The secret of the stone monster
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The secret of the stone monster |
| Original title | The Monolith Monsters |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1957 |
| length | 77 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 (DVD) |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Sherwood |
| script |
Norman Jolley Robert M. Fresco |
| production | Howard Christie |
| music | Joseph Gershenson |
| camera | Ellis W. Carter |
| cut | Patrick McCormack |
| occupation | |
| |
The Monolith Monsters (Original The Monolith Monsters ) is in black and white twisted, American science fiction film from the year 1957 by John Sherwood . The film is based on an idea by director Jack Arnold .
The fragments of an impacted meteorite begin to grow rapidly when they come into contact with water. Soon the gigantic monoliths threaten a nearby city.
action
The fragments of a meteorite that fell in the California desert have uncanny powers. As soon as they come into contact with water, they develop rapid crystalline growth. Houses are being destroyed, people are petrified. The rocks, which remove all silicon from the environment , break apart from a certain size, then the growth process begins again. The monoliths take on oversized proportions and threaten a nearby city. When it starts to rain, a catastrophe is looming. Finally, the scientists working with geologist Dave Miller discover the weak point of the foreign substance: with the help of salt, growth is stopped. Miller has a dam blown up, the water of which flows through a salt mining area, and large quantities of salt are washed against the monoliths. The city is saved.
background
The original idea for the script came from Jack Arnold. Since Arnold was to shoot the Lana Turner film Always Trouble with Women at the request of the production studio Universal , with which he was under contract, his former assistant director John Sherwood was commissioned to direct, whom Arnold had already recommended for The Monster Is Among Us .
The monoliths and their growth also formed the basis for the Tiberium in the Command & Conquer titles .
Premiere
The secret of the stone monster started in the USA in December 1957. In the Federal Republic of Germany it was not shown in cinemas, but was first broadcast on TV on August 22, 1970 on ARD .
reception
“Simple but effective little film with some great special effects from Stine . [...] one of the more interesting of the realistic American science fiction films of the 50s. "
“[A] power threatens the state or even humanity, and an individual [sic] prevents the general catastrophe through his solitary decision, which is highly dubious from a democratic point of view. [...] Anyone who relates [the] political events to the time the film was made will almost automatically recognize how clumsily and ingeniously the SF film is used here as a weapon in the Cold War [sic]. "
"An exciting mixture of horror and science fiction, which only offers entertainment on a modest level, soon after the clichés of the genre."
From 1950 to 1955, the Senate Committee established by McCarthy and apostrophized by Arthur Miller as a modern witch hunter worked to investigate communist activities. Anyone who relates these political events to the time the film was made will almost automatically recognize how clumsily and ingeniously the SF film was used here as a weapon in the Cold War.
Frankfurter Rundschau of August 24, 1970, quoted from Hahn / Jansen, Lexikon des Science Fiction Films , Vol. 2, p. 366
literature
- Entry The secret of the stone monster , in: Ronald M. Hahn / Volker Jansen: Lexicon of Science Fiction Films. 2000 films from 1902 to today , 2 volumes, 7th edition Munich (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag) 1997, volume 2, p. 365f. ISBN 3-453-11860-X
Web links
- The Monolith Monsters in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interview with Jack Arnold by Frank McGee for the US fanzine "Photon", 1979, online at Monsters411.com, accessed on March 5, 2012.
- ↑ a b Entry in the Lexicon of International Films .
- ^ "Simple but effective minor film has some extraordinarily special effects by Stine. […] One of the more interesting of the realist American Science Fiction movies of the fifties. ”- Phil Hardy (Ed.): The Aurum Film Encyclopedia - Science Fiction, Aurum Press, London 1991.
- ^ Frankfurter Rundschau, August 24, 1970, quoted from Ronald M. Hahn , Volker Jansen : Lexikon des Science Fiction Films , 5th edition, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1992.